To introduce my next topic of discussion, I would like to acquaint you with the artist-fan relationship. This area of an artist’s career can either make or break them and will determine how much time you will be spending in the the hearts of fans. I will go more in depth in a follow-up for my next post, but I want to give you a few recent examples of where this relationship has been employed, so you can get your feet wet before we take the so called plunge.

- A band by the name the Scene Aesthetic recently toured the US and had “meet ups” in local parks before their shows. This was a great way for fans to interact with their favorite musicians and get to know them on a more personal level. If anyone participated in these “meet ups,” please share.

- Another artist by the name of PlayRadioPlay! is having his fans fund his next album. In return, he is putting the name of everyone who donates in the album credits. All the information is located on his blog on myspace.

- Email lists are also a crucial part of artist/fan interaction. I recently signed up on the band The Summer Set’s mailing list, so I could receive an unreleased acoustic download.

- Another band by the name of Every Time I Die is about to release an album with a DVD included in the package. Somehow they integrated facebook and twitter so if you updated your status on either (with the promotional message provided by ETID), you were able to watch the DVD for free. As a fan, that pretty much made my day.

- Lastly, a band by the name of Paramore is about to release a new album. There is currently a pre-order going on that is limited to 15,000 special deluxe box-sets.
 Even though these items may be a little pricey, hardcore fans love long-term memories.

Some of these ideas may not generate direct revenue, but creating incentives such as the examples shown above will engage your fans and give them even more of a reason to come out to shows/concerts and buy your merchandise as well. Long-term loyalty is important and that is what these example are going for. Stay tuned for my in-depth follow-up later this week.